Low Cost Housing Made from Loofahs

If you think the humble loofah should only be used in the shower you’d be sorely mistaken. The current iteration of the loofah is actually derived from a cucumber-like vegetable (of the same name) that is dried to yield a scratchy sponge for cleaning. This seemingly simple crop is destined for more than the shower or sink and is now poised to greatly help poor communities across Paraguay. Thanks to the efforts of social activist Elsa Zaldívar, the loofah is transforming impoverished areas throughout Paraguay. Elsa discovered that the Loofah is an ideal cash crop and formed a collective of women to grow, harvest and sell the vegetable. Paraguay’s organically grown and harvested loofahs now boast an environmental and competitive advantage over many plantation-grown loofahs from China and other countries and provide a necessary source of income and opportunity to the people of Paraguay.

Not only has the loofah been able to bring in money for those that grow it, the loofah is now helping to address Paraguay’s housing problem as well. Working with industrial engineers, Elsa Zaldivar has combined readily available waste from the loofah with plastic waste to form strong, lightweight building panels. The panels can be used to create furniture and construct houses, insulating occupants from temperature and noise. This innovation addresses a real need in Paraguay, as around 300,000 Paraguayan families lack adequate housing. When the panels break or fall apart they can easily be broken down and recycled back into new panels, greatly easing the demand for wood in Paraguay’s over-harvested forests. Because of Elsa’s inspiring work she was awarded a Rolex Award for the creation of a low cost housing material. Rolex is now partially funding her effort and Elsa hopes to provide her sustainable and low cost housing throughout all of Paraguay.

To find out more click here

The Deadline for the Discarded Dreams Competition has been Extended!

Thankfully for those of us who like to wait until the last minute, the deadline to submit your designs for reclaiming old mattresses has been extended to December 19th! The Discarded Dreams Design Competition will be accepting submissions until midnight on the 19th and for those who didn’t get a chance to sign up, there is still time to register! The guidelines remain the same and preference will be given to designs that reuse as much of a mattress as possible with little or no virgin materials.

Winners will receive $1,000 and have the chance to develop their design into an actual product.

Visit the Discarded Dreams Website for guidelines, faqs, inspiration and to review other entries.

You can also view our original blog post on the competition here

Looking for A Scrap Resource?

Material Scraps is a reseller. They add new listings frequently to their site. The scraps come from Mechmar and other manufacturers who don’t want their excess material to go to waste. You will find items such as… 7/16″ Thick x 60″ Wide Gray Wool Felt - $41.39. For more information or to visit their store, visit materialscraps.com.